Overview

Stripe offers multiple ways to collect payment from customers: charging immediately using a saved payment method on an Account or Billing record, sending a payment link in a Billing email, or requesting a prepayment before a Billing exists. Use this article to select the right process for your workflow.

The Stripe integration supports multi-currency credit card transaction processing. ACH (Automated Clearing House) transaction processing is limited to USD.

In this article:

• Customers Pay Directly
  • Email an Invoice with a Payment Link
  • Request a Prepayment from the Account
• Charge Customer Payment Methods on File
  • Receive a Payment from a Billing
  • Create a Payment from the Account
• Tracking Payments
• Troubleshooting & FAQ
  • Declined Credit Card
  • ACH Payments

Customers Pay Directly

Use this section when the customer will complete payment on their own by clicking a Stripe-hosted payment link. No saved payment method is required on the customer's Account.

Email an Invoice with a Payment Link

Use this section to include a payment link in a Billing email (a Billing is the Accounting Seed record that functions as a customer invoice) so the customer can pay directly. The payment link populates automatically when the Billing's associated Payment Processor has Type set to Stripe. A Billing PDF Format (the Accounting Seed template that controls how Billing emails look) must be configured with the Stripe payment email template before using this process. See Connect to Stripe, Step 5: Set up your Email Template for Payment Link.

Before You Begin

• Complete all setup steps in Connect to Stripe including confirming that Payment Link is configured. Starting with Winter '27 Preview, Payment Link uses your Accounting Seed Hub authorization. See Connect to Stripe, Step 4: Configure Payment Link.
• Confirm that the Billing's associated Payment Processor has Type set to Stripe.
• Confirm that a Payment Link value appears on the Billing record. This field populates automatically when a Billing Line is saved. If the field is blank, save the Billing Line and refresh the record. If it remains blank, confirm the PDF format has an email template configured. See Connect to Stripe, Step 5: Set up your Email Template for Payment Link, for steps.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Create Entries tab. Under the Revenues menu, click Billings.
2. Select a list view (do not use Recently Viewed, as that view does not support record actions).
3. Open the Billing record and click Create PDF.
4. A preview window opens showing the email with the payment link in the body. Before clicking Send Email, confirm the payment link appears in the email. If the link is missing, see Connect to Stripe, Step 5: Set up your Email Template for Payment Link, before continuing.
5. Click Send Email. The customer receives an email with the payment link. When the customer pays, the system processes the payment with Stripe, creates a Cash Receipt (the Accounting Seed record that records an incoming payment), and applies it to the Billing.

Request a Prepayment from the Account

Use this section to request a deposit, retainer, or advance payment from a customer before a Billing has been created. Accounting Seed sends the customer a payment link by email and creates and posts a Cash Receipt to a Prepayment GL Account, a Balance Sheet liability account used to record the payment until a Billing is created and revenue is recognized.

Before You Begin

Admin setup is required before this process is available, including creating a Prepayment GL Account (GL Account Type: Balance Sheet > Liability), configuring Default GL Accounts, and adding the Receive Payment button to the Account Accounting page layout. See AR Prepayments Setup for complete steps. Complete all setup steps in Connect to Stripe before using this section.

1. On the Account record, click Receive Payment. The Request Prepayment screen opens.
2. Select the Payment Processor and Payment Type.
3. Complete the required fields on the Request Prepayment screen, including amount and email recipient. Optionally, add GL variables (reporting dimensions such as Project, Product, or Department that help categorize the transaction in reports).

4. Click Request Prepayment. The system sends the payment link email and creates and posts the Cash Receipt to the Prepayment GL Account, recording the liability on your balance sheet.

Charge Customer Payment Methods on File

Use this section to charge a payment method already saved to the customer's Account. This process initiates an immediate charge without requiring the customer to take action.

Receive a Payment from a Billing

To receive a single payment from a Billing record, see Receive Payment Directly from a Billing.

To receive payments in bulk, see Receive Payments from Multiple Billings.

Create a Payment from the Account

Use this section to charge a customer's saved payment method immediately from the Account record. To collect a deposit, retainer, or advance payment before a Billing has been created, without requiring a payment method on file, see Request a Prepayment from the Account.

Before You Begin

• A saved payment method (credit card or ACH bank account) must be on the customer's Account. See Manage Stripe Payment Methods.
• The customer's Account must have at least one open Billing.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Under the Master menu, click Accounts.
2. Select a list view (do not use Recently Viewed, as that view does not support record actions).
3. Select the Account record.
4. On the Account record, click Create Payment.
5. If more than one Payment Processor exists, select the appropriate one from the Payment Processor drop-down. If only one Payment Processor exists, it displays automatically.
6. Select the correct payment method from the Payment Method drop-down. The default Payment Method is displayed initially. The Payment Method shows the account holder's name, card type, and last four digits of the card number.

7. Enter the Amount to be paid.
8. (Optional) Add a description and any GL variables for this transaction.
9. Click Create Payment. A Cash Receipt is created and posted to the cash GL Account by default. Once a Billing is created, the Cash Receipt can be applied to it.

Tracking Payments

After a payment is processed through Stripe, confirmation details are available in Accounting Seed. Where to find the confirmation depends on the payment method used.

Credit Card

When a credit card payment is successfully processed, the Ref field on the Cash Receipt record is updated with the Stripe charge reference number. Use this reference number to locate the corresponding transaction in Stripe when reconciling payments or investigating disputes.

ACH

ACH payments are processed asynchronously and may take one to five business days to confirm. Use the Payment Activities screen to check the current status of an ACH payment. You can update Payment Activity records in three ways:

• Schedule the Payment Activity Status job to update Payment Activity records automatically on a recurring basis. See Automated Jobs to schedule this job.
• Run the Payment Activity Status job on demand by selecting Payment Activity Status and clicking Run Now from the Run an On Demand Job section of the Automated Jobs screen.
• Click the Status ACH Payments button from the list view of the Payment Activities screen. See ACH Payments in the Troubleshooting & FAQ section below for steps.

Access path: Accounting Home > Run Reports > Utilities > Payment Activities

 

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Use this section to diagnose and resolve errors for declined or failed payments.

Declined Credit Card

When a credit card charge is declined, use this section to view the error information on the Payment Activity screen. This applies to prepayments charged from an Account record or electronic payments on single or multiple Billings.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Run Reports tab. Under the Utilities menu, click Payment Activities.
2. Select a list view (do not use Recently Viewed, as that view does not support record actions).

3. Locate the Payment Activity record for the declined charge. To identify the correct record, check the Amount column or click a Payment Method link, which displays the account holder's name and the last four digits of the card number. Select the Payment Activity Name to open the record.
4. Review the error details on the Details tab. To resolve the issue, verify the Payment Method on the Account and check the configuration in Stripe. See Stripe Error Codes for a full list of error descriptions.

ACH Payments

All transactions initiated from Accounting Seed are recorded as a payment activity under the payment method. Declined charges and processing errors appear in the payment activity record.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Run Reports tab. Under the Utilities menu, click Payment Activities.
2. Select a list view (do not use Recently Viewed, as that view does not support record actions).
3. Click Status ACH Payments. An intermediate screen appears showing the pending ACH transactions to be checked.
4. Click Status ACH Payments again on the intermediate screen to run the update. (Two clicks are required: the first loads the confirmation screen; the second executes the job.) An email is sent when the update completes.
5. Switch to the ACH declined list view. For each declined record, open the Payment Activity and review the error details on the Details tab. Common next steps include verifying the customer's bank account information and resubmitting. See Stripe Error Codes for decline code descriptions.

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